Howdy all, facing some issues as of late with a home we purchased in Dallas last fall. With any home, I expect my fair share of issues, it's just unfortunate that all seem to be coming at the same time.

Home is in an area with known foundation issues and when we purchased it was contingent upon some pillars being installed around the edges of the house. I notice last weekend that our ceiling in the garage has not only cracked but the drywall is now not all the way connected (pics below). Nervous of parking my car in the garage now, and have no clue where to even start. Unless I fix the root cause, this doesn't feel like a simple drywall repair. Is the 1st step getting a structural engineer to come look at the house/garage? Rec's would be great on where to go from here.

2nd Issue is there is a leak somewhere in our kitchen. We noticed our floor develop a hump along a straight line under our fridge that went straight in front of it. Coincidentally we tossed that existing fridge (broke down) and bought a new one, but the problem persisted. There was no obvious water coming from the bottom of the fridge itself. Had a leak detection company come out and he concluded that it was not a leak in the slab, but couldn't provide us with any further guesses. Happy it's not a slab issue, but is a plumber the next person to come out? We stopped using the water line from the fridge and turned off the ice maker and the hump has completely gone away.

TL;DR:
Issue 1: Garage ceiling falling apart (pics below). Who do I call for this in the DFW area? Level of concern if it were you?

Issue 2: Leak in kitchen that's somehow connected to the water line that would go to a fridge. Leak detection company (who I thought would be all encompassing) said it's not a leak/crack in the slab which is great news. Plumber next step?

I'm posting here to express my slight panic, and in hopes that someone has experienced similar things to help a slightly overwhelmed homeowner out.

Appreciate all the responses. I'll try to get a handyman out soon to come repair. I'd be fine with them going and attaching a 2x4 in the attic as well.

No pics of the flooring issue as the hump has gone away. The leak company said it was not a slab issue, so it's what, likely a valve came loose in the wall? The fact that it is pressurized and should always be leaking, but (apparently) isn't really confuses this issue. It's hardwood floor so I'd rather not rip it open to investigate, but looking likely if it's not something in the wall behind the fridge dripping down?

Well, this opinion differs from DIY, judged to be future nightmares if not a pro.
Even IF a pro, messing/fixing any of these failings will confuse the collection of "evidence" needed for a lawsuit.

The only thing to do is to engage a local 5-star lawyer skilled and specializing in residential construction defects.
Lawyer will then get the appropriate people out to gather evidence, make contact & even make repairs to be billed others at fault after a judgment.
Do not assume the builder is solely at fault since homeowners have maintenance and repairs duties, then full disclosure upon a sale.
(New home Owner could mean either/or you or the house is new.)


Photos:
Foundation issues this year & beyond may include more piers and framing re-do under Kitchen (dangerous + $$$$)
Roof leaks
Garage ceiling re-do, maybe with screws/ringshanks into iffy damaged wood joists
Plumbing leaks 2nd opinion
Drainage check away from foundation, especially in storms NOT flooding/invading foundation area

Pretty sure I watched a video recently of him crawling through a drive-thru window because they forgot to give him a straw. It was in the bag the cashier was about to hand him with his food.

COAg15 said:

---

It's hardwood floor so I'd rather not rip it open to investigate, but looking likely if it's not something in the wall behind the fridge dripping down?

---

What type of hardwood floor? I've had both parquet and planks with water damage. On parquet, you could feel the individual pieces slightly buckle through time, similar with the planks. If you have a big enough one time leak or chronic leak, your hardwood should be showing some swell/shrink damage. I could also hear it sloshing underneath some of the parquet.

If it buckled and went back down, doesn't sound like water to me.

Lawyers don't just sue, they quarterback solutions to many Life's problems. They know the pros to call to dig up facts, then you both decide IF lawsuit is merited after all the facts & solutions are on the table.

Your report suggests underlying items at the roots of these faults that recall past projects that needed consultation.
SO if no lawyer to be your quarterback, then suggest a structural engineer to look at all of it, top to bottom, stem to stern.

Sorry for the delay in response! I've been reading every comment and thinking about them all. I really appreciate everyone's advice here.

Regarding the ceiling in the garage, I'll get a handyman out here soon to hop in the attic to reattach.

So the floor is hardwood floor. I believe it's plank, they are really thin pieces that lock in to each other. When it humped up, you could step on that area and it would go flat and you could hear air hissing out. Never heard sloshing or water, but mainly just air escaping if you pressed down on it.

Weird anecdote is that when we had the new fridge installed, the water from the line tasted absolutely awful. Really minerally tasting. I ran several gallons through to try and abate that, but it never went away. Leads me to think that regardless they're going to have to do some type of investigating in the wall to see what happened?

We've not gone back to using the ice maker or water line from the fridge and the hump is totally gone. Not sure if that's coincidental but it sure does make me not want to use it again till we fix whatever is wrong.

Again, I appreciate everyone's thoughts here.

Nm

What you describe sounds like engineered hardwood. If there is/was water, it will get dark, likely starting in the seams. We had a dishwasher leak once that ruined engineered hardwood on the other side of the wall from it. Wet wood isn't going back to normal. I wonder if the "bubbling" could be some sort of other expansion with the floor (maybe humidity-caused?), and when pushing against edges, bows up a bit? Wood expands and shrinks, so if perhaps it was installed without enough of an expansion gap around the perimeter, you may be seeing some effect from that